


To Have A Home

by fakingg_sanity



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mystery, Season 2, The Hub (Torchwood), pre-reset
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-08-07 09:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16405976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakingg_sanity/pseuds/fakingg_sanity
Summary: 'It had been a long ass week for Ianto Jones, and the last place he wanted to be on a Friday night was a crowded club. Well that wasn’t strictly true, he didn’t want to be in *this* crowded club, fully sober and looking for a flesh-eating, shape shifting alien hell bent on destroying the human race.'Ianto's walking home one night and something happens, only he can't remember what....A little mystery for you this week, set somewhere in early season 2.- USERNAME FORMALLY 'TheOnlyOrigamiDinosaurLeft' -





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a long ass week for Ianto Jones, and the last place he wanted to be on a Friday night was a crowded club. Well that wasn’t strictly true, he didn’t want to be in this crowded club, fully sober and looking for a flesh-eating, shape shifting alien hell bent on destroying the human race. They’d picked up a rift reading 2 days earlier, a big one. And something had come through. An ‘Asteuh’ as Jack had helpfully supplied once Tosh had hacked into the security footage around the site. He hadn’t remembered a planet of origin, only that they lived to kill. Tosh had traced the energy signals their new friend had been leaving around the city and thus began a long, two-day search. It’d been evading them with extreme success, laying low in the sewers and feeding off weevils. Until suddenly it’d gotten bored of that and started a hunt around the city. A human hunt. Which is how they’d ended up here. Tosh had picked up a steady pulse of readings from the club, matching the shapeshifter, so Ianto, Jack, Owen and Gwen had all clambered into the SUV and raced to the club. 

The music thumped in Ianto’s ears, he idly wished he’d changed out of his suit before they arrived at the club as he was starting to sweat under all his layers. Something Jack had already picked up on and made fun of him for. Tosh’s voice buzzed in his ear. 

“Having fun?” he could hear her smug grin through the comm. He could imagine her now, sat at her desk, a steaming cup of coffee next to her and her hands flying over the keys. God, he wished he was at the hub right now. 

“Time of my life. Do you know where we’re headed?” 

He heard clicks as she typed on the computer. 

“Getting steady readings, so it should be around there somewhere.”

“And what exactly are we looking for?” Owen’s voice joined the call. 

“Not sure…” Jack answered. “Shapeshifters are tricky.”

“Yeah… no shit Sherlock….”

“Just keep an eye out for anyone who’s looking particularly peckish…” Ianto raised an eyebrow at Jack’s comment. He looked around the room at the men and even some of the women looking at each other hungrily, everyone ready for a bit of Friday night action. 

“Not sure that’s the best advice, eh Jack?”

“What, you found someone you like the look-” Jack never got to finish his sentence. A blood curdling scream sliced through the club, the music abruptly stopped and Jack’s voice lifted above the panicked shouts. “Over here!!” 

Ianto started to run, following Jack’s voice towards the back of the club. Jack and Owen were already there when he arrived. A woman in her late 20s was laying on the ground, a huge chunk of her neck missing and blood all down her white dress. Above her a young man with blond hair and bloodied fangs was gnawing at her face.   
“STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!” Jack bellowed. Ianto tapped his comm, knowing that within seconds this situation would be uncontained. He turned and looked through the crowd as far as he could.

“Gwen. Get to the front door, block off the exit.” With two taps on his PDA he’d blocked the phone signal. Ianto jumped as two gunshots fired in quick succession, and a quick glace backwards told him their target was dead. “Tosh, handle things with the police.” 

He pushed his way through the crowd, towards the bar area. Panic was starting to settle, people had seen the body, heard the gunshots. Ianto felt people crashing into him as he tried to get through. 

“Fuck. Jack? A little help here? Need to get to the front and start the retcon. Jack?”

Jack wasn’t responding. Ianto reached the bar area and clambered on top of the counter for a better vantage point. A small clearing had formed where Jack and Owen had taken down the alien. He caught Owen’s eye over the heads of the drunken masses. He shook his head. 

“Dead mate, Asteuh got a hit on him before I took him down.” 

“Bollocks. Okay.” Ianto took a deep breath, he saw Gwen by the door, desperately trying to keep people from leaving, Owen across the room was trying to cover the bodies. He knew his job. God, he wanted to go to bed. 

_

it was well past 5am when the team walked back into the hub, all exhausted, Jack still covered in his own blood (plus that of the alien and victim). Ianto had dropped Jack, Gwen and Owen at the water tower then taken the SUV down to the underground carpark to unload the bodies there and get them up to the hub with minimal faff. Ianto steadied the gurney as he came through from the lower level to the main hub, the last thing he needed was two dead bodies on his nice clean floor. Owen met him half way, already scrubbed up for an autopsy. 

“You dream, Ianto.” Owen grabbed the end of the trolley and picked it up over the stairs. They had their bodies in the autopsy room in no time. “You alright?” Owen asked as they dumped the bodies, slightly out of breath. 

Ianto nodded, though his chest was heaving a bit. He idly thought he should probably starting working out a bit more, if he was so tired just from moving a couple of dead bodies. Maybe it was time to start running again….

“Yeah, I’m good. Just tired.”

“Yeah, it’s been a rough couple of days, take a few on the sofa.”

Ianto thought about it, he actually could really do with a lie down for 10 minutes. 

“I might actually. I’ll grab you some coffee first though…”

Owen nodded and smiled. 

“Good man.”

Ianto made a few rounds of coffee for everyone then plonked himself down on the sofa, he pulled his tie free of his neck and threw it down on the sofa. He let his eyes drift closed and tried to ignore the burn in his chest and the sweat still plastered across his brow. Tosh and Gwen were at their desks, each starting reports on the events at the nightclub, albeit a bit more sluggish than usual. Jack came out of his office holding his coffee with a half smile plastered across his face. 

“You okay there, sleeping beauty?” 

Ianto cracked open an eye to see Jack staring at him. Jack waltzed over to Ianto and sat himself down next to him, a little closer than Ianto would normally be comfortable with, having everyone else so near in the hub. But he was so tired, at this point, he didn’t have the energy to object. 

“Yeah, fine. Tired, actually. More than normal…”

Jack huffed out an affectionate laugh and smoothed a hand down Ianto’s leg, coming to a stop at his knee. 

“Want to come downstairs? Get some actually rest?”

it was Ianto’s turn to smile. He lowered his voice.

“We wouldn’t end up sleeping.”

Jack grinned, his laugh was short and low. Ianto felt himself blush slightly. 

“Ianto Jones… I think I’m a bad influence on you…”

“Who said I wasn’t always like this?” 

He leaned forward towards Jack, who quickly looked to see if Tosh and Gwen were looking before leaning in as well. Before they could meet though, Ianto doubled over, his face contorted in pain. He grunted, his breath coming in sharp pants. 

Jack let out a surprised help, set his coffee down, and shouted down to Owen. Gwen and Tosh turned around with immediate concern.

“Owen! Get up here!”

The Doctor was there in an instant. 

“What’s happened?” 

He was pulling off his gloves and coat that were somewhat covered in varying alien fluids. Jack pointed at Ianto, who was still doubled over, his head pressed harshly against the back of the sofa. Owen was by his side immediately. 

“Ianto? Ianto mate can you hear me?” Owen gently pulled Ianto’s head towards him and checked his eyes, they were screwed shut. “Gwen, get me my med kit. Then you and tosh clear the autopsy of the bodies. Stick them in the freezer while we sort out Ianto. ”

Gwen grabbed his kit then returned to the med bay with Tosh to clear the bodies. Owen began his checks.

“Ianto? Come on. Jack what happened?” 

Ianto’s eyes we’re still closed, and his breath loud and his fisted hands clenched hard on the fabric of the sofa. Jack gently left forward and picked up one of his hands. Ianto immediately gripped it, painfully so. 

“I-I don’t know, we were just chatting and next thing I know he was doubled over in pain.”

Owen roughly lifted up Ianto’s shirt sleeve and pressed a pain killer in his arm, the effect was immediate. Ianto’s grip eased on Jack’s hand, though he still held it tightly. 

“My… Chest…” He pushed out through gritted teeth. 

Owen looked at Jack, who’s face was a white sheet of worry.

“Get him to the med bay. Now!”


	2. Chapter 2

4 days earlier 

“Yeah, I’ll be there now Jack… Well, give us a chance, I only just left the Chinese. Deep fryer had broke or somethin’ so I got you chow mien…. Oh shut up. Just pour me a glass of sodding wine and I’ll be there in 5.”

Ianto hung up his phone with a fond smile and slipped it back into his inside pocket, a slight challenge as he juggled the large bag of takeaway in arms. The morning at Torchwood had been an early one, and certainly very busy. They’d been at the hub by 4:30 chasing down several energy spikes that ended up being random space debris. The afternoon had been quieter, so he and Jack had bunked off early to go back to the flat, watch a film and eat a takeaway. He hadn’t minded driving and picking it up while Jack had had a long shower and set up the TV. Only now he was wishing they’d just ordered delivery as a brisk chill was starting to settle over the bay as he rushed to his car. 

He clicked the key and the doors unlocked, he carefully placed the bag of food on the passenger seat, and started to make his way round the front of the car to get to the driver’s side, only before he could an invisible source stopped him in his tracks. His breath left him and he gasped, frozen in place. 

A strange cloud fuzzed his vision out and a voice filtered into his head. 

“Iantoooo….. Joooonesss….” 

Ianto tried to move his head to the side, to try and see the creature behind the mysterious voice. He couldn’t. He felt a small prick in his chest and the voice inside his head seemed to compress. 

“Helpppp….. Usssssss…….”

Then suddenly. It was over. 

Ianto collapsed against the front of his Audi. He hit his head on the bonnet and it knocked him awake. He blinked.

Scrambling up, he steadied himself with a hand to the car. He couldn’t remember a thing. Why had he just fallen? He hadn’t had a drink and he wasn’t that tired, not by any means his usual standard. Ianto looked around, scratching his head. He had no recollection of leaving the Chinese or walking to his car. Strange…

“Better get a good night’s sleep tonight. Must be overdoing it…” 

He carefully got into the drivers side of his car and drove off towards his flat. And Jack. And he tired not to feel worried about his sudden gap in memory, or the strange pain he felt in his chest…

_

“OWEN!”

“Yeah, Alright Jack! I’m trying okay! Give me some space. Gwen! Get him out of here!”

“I’ll stay wherever I like thank you very much, especially now!”

“If you want him to live I suggest you get the fuck out of my medical room while I figure what the hell is going on with him. If you have to see him you stand on the gantry but stop crowding me or so help me god I will have Gwen lock you in the vaults.”

Jack sneered, but turned and walked up the stairs anyway. Ianto was laying flat on the silver autopsy table, he was dancing across that line of consciousness intermittently, every few minutes opening his eyes and glaring in pain. Owen had cut his shirt open the moment they’d got him flat, but as far as he could tell there was no irritation to the skin of his chest, or broken bones under the surface. He grabbed his most powerful scanner and ran it gently over his skin. 

He stared at the monitor next to him. 

“Tosh, do these readings mean anything to you?” Owen shouted up to Tosh, who was whirring around her computer, hands flying over keyboards quicker than anyone could keep up with. 

“I can’t really make sense of it. He doesn’t have any physical injury, as far as I can tell.”

“These readings are very strange. I'm picking up something... There is a pure energy circulating around his chest area… what Is that??”

Jack had had enough. He ran towards Tosh’s station and checked over the screen. 

“Its like… its like a ball of energy inside of him. How…” Jack tailed off. His hand coming to his face. “How did this not set off the alarms? How long has this been building inside of him? How-?”

“Jack!”

“Jack! Shut up!”

Both Tosh and Owen shouted at Jack.

Down in the med bay Owen was running his hand over Ianto’s head, he was sweating profusely. 

“Whatever the energy is, its causing a big fight inside him. He’s sweating like crazy. Fever, I think? Though I’m not sure, this isn’t like any medical condition I’ve seen before?”

“Can you identify it, Tosh?” Jack had a bad, bad feeling about this. Gwen was sat limply on the sofa, her hands clasped in front of her and her head low.

“I’m working on it Jack. Whatever it is… I don’t think we’ve seen it before…”

Jack turned back and walked towards the railings. He stared down at Ianto, a man who, over the past few months, he had come to rely on. They’d spent so much time together since his return from the Doctor. They’d worked hard to get over the pain of everything that had happened before he left, and everything that happened once he came back. He couldn’t stand the idea of losing him now. Or ever. 

Suddenly, Ianto’s eyes flickered open. Jack was there instantly. 

“Jack…” Ianto managed to croak out. 

Jack chocked back a sob. 

“I’m here. You’re okay, We’re here.”

“I-I remember…”

Jack’s head whipped up, he and Owen shared a look. 

“What do you remember?”

Ianto’s eyes rolled back, Jack shook him gently. 

“Ianto. Hey. Ianto? Come on, Tiger pants, stay with me…”

Ianto’s eyes fluttered open again, he lifted his hand and grappled at Jack’s shirt.

“What do you remember?”

“There was something…”

“Yes?”

“Something in my head… I was by my car. With our Chinese…”

“When Ianto?”

Ianto’s mouth twitched in a pained smile. 

“James… bond….”

Owen looked at Jack, a deep frown set in his brow. 

“James Bond?”

“Monday night. We watched a film.” He turned back to Ianto. “You we’re picking up our food, you seemed a bit off when you got back to the flat. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They made me…. Forget…”

A tear ran down Ianto’s cheek. Jack smoothed his hand down the side of Ianto’s face. 

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know…” Ianto’s eyes closed. “’M so tired, Jack…”

“Don’t fall asleep, Ianto… Come on, stay with us… Who were they?”

“It said… It wanted help.”

Jack’s head was swimming. 

“What did you do to help it?”

Tears were trickling down the side of Ianto’s face now, wetting his ears.

“I think….” Ianto took a deep breath… “I think I gave it somewhere to live…”

At that point, Ianto’s body gave up the fight, he fell against the table, hand still clutching Jack. Jack’s breath caught in his throat and a tear fell uncontrolled down his cheek.

“Owen… tell me he isn’t…”

“He isn’t. Just unconscious.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither…”

Jack turned back towards the main hub, Tosh was still focusing on her screens. 

“Anything?” Tosh didn’t reply. “Tosh!”

She turned to look at them. 

“The energy in Ianto was spiking that whole time, I was working on a trace for it, but it’s dissipated slightly. I managed to pull security footage from when he picked up the food from the Chinese though.”

Owen raised an eyebrow. 

“That was quick.”

“I’m very good…”

Tosh bounced the footage down to the monitor in the medical bay to save Jack and Owen leaving Ianto’s side. And they all watched as Ianto walked into frame with a bag of food, placed it carefully in the passenger seat, then froze solid as he was making his way round the front of the car…


	3. Chapter 3

They’d moved Ianto down to a more comfortable recovery room after he’d fallen back unconscious earlier. Jack, refusing to leave his side, had set up a monitor link to the rest of the hub so the team could keep him updated on their progresses. Gwen had been mostly focusing on the clean-up from the mission earlier that morning. It would usually have been Ianto’s job, but he was in no position to be writing cover stories. Jack idly thought that Ianto could be on his death bed and would still be worrying about how they would cover it up, who’d dispose of the body? Who’d sort and lock up his belongings? Jack stopped that train of thought pretty quickly, because he knew the answers. He’d be the one to dispose of Ianto’s body, he’d be the one to back up his belongings at the flat…

Tosh was busy working on a trace for the energy source currently building inside of Ianto, and thanks to his descriptions while talking to Jack, they had a bit more of an idea as to what they were looking for: A sentient creature, who lived as pure energy that needed a host to possess in order to live. She had a scan running through both Torchwood and UNIT databases trying to find something that could help them identify what was terrorising Ianto. 

Owen was flitting between Ianto and the two latest corpses to show up within Torchwood. He was trying his best to get them out of the way, but especially with the Asteuh, he didn’t want to rush it and end up missing something vitally important. He ran his scanner over the body, taking a full body measure and getting used to the readings. Alien biology was difficult; he’d worked as a doctor for years and was pretty damn good at it, but working with aliens was different every time. You never knew where you stood. He’d had aliens melt all over the table as soon as he’d sliced the skin, he’d had aliens explode on him… he’d even had one spontaneously duplicate. Ianto had not been impressed coming down into the med bay to find 30 odd little green men running around. 

“Owen…” Jack’s voice crackled through the speakers in the med bay. “He’s awake.”

Owen straightened, he put the scanner down next to the body and removed his gloves. It got tiring being the only one with an MD. He grabbed his spare med kit and started down towards the recovery rooms. What he saw when he entered the room was shocking, although now that he thought about it, maybe not as shocking as it would have been a year ago. Jack was sat, his plastic chair pushed up as close to Ianto’s bed as he could get it, his head was down with his forehead resting on the mattress. Ianto’s eyes were half open and he was slightly angled up, and his right hand was gently carding through Jack’s hair. A gesture of comfort if Owen had ever seen one. And what was weirder, was that Ianto didn’t pull away as Owen came closer, perhaps he was too tired, perhaps he just no longer cared. 

Owen dumped his kit on the end of the bed, and Jack lifted his head, his eyes watery. 

“Alright you two, how we doing?”

Ianto looked slightly more alert, although his face still bore the deep lines of someone truly exhausted, physically and mentally. 

“I’m awake at least. How long’ve I been out?”

Owen checked his watch.

“3ish hours. You were dozing for a bit up top before we brought you down here. Tosh is working on a trace, and a lot of other things I don’t understand. Gwen’s got the cover stories for last night sorted…” He leaned forward and checked Ianto’s vitals on the machine next to the bed. “Looks like Torchwood runs just fine without you, mate”

Ianto chuckled, as best he could in the pain he was in. 

“Give it time…”

Jack was unusually silent, his hand gripping Ianto’s on the bed. Owen hummed. 

“You’re vitals are looking a little better, it seems like the energy inside you ebbs and flows. We’re not really sure what controls it, but I think we can assume it’s an alien of some kind, possible looking for shelter, a new home… something like that.”

“Cheery thought.”

“Yeah. Well. We’re gonna get it out of you. Can you think of anything in the archives that might help?”

Ianto raised his eyebrow, then closed his eyes in thought. 

“Hm. Not sure, I could head down there and-”

“Absolutely not.”

“Jack.”

“No, Ianto, you’re unwell, you can barely stand and there’s an unknown alien energy incubating inside your body. No work.”

Owen gave Ianto a look. 

“Right, I’ll leave you two to it, I’ll be on comms if you need anything.”

Owen gave Ianto a supportive smile, and Jack an odd glance, before turning around and heading out the door back towards the hub. 

“Jack-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“Will you just-?”

“No. Ianto. I’m not talking about this.”

They lapsed into an awkward silence. Ianto closed his eyes. 

“It could be over quicker if I found something?” he said quietly.

“Or you could collapse, and hurt yourself more severely. The alien could take over, anything could happen.”

“I want this to be over as much as you do Jack,”

“I don’t think so…”

“What?”

Jack hung his head.

“Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to see you like that…?” His voice cracked. “You just… doubled over and I thought that was it.”

“Jack, I’m fine…”

“I could still lose you.”

“You will lose me Jack, one day.”

“Don’t…”

“You will. But not today. I’m not gonna let some sodding alien energy take me out against my will. And I’m not going down without a fight. So, get a grip, grab me a wheel chair and lets go and find something downstairs.”

“Ianto...”

“Jack….”

Jack exhaled, his eyes watering. He pulled Ianto’s hand up to his lips. 

“I’m scared…” It was so quiet Ianto could have missed it.

“Me too. So let’s go find something to fix this.”

_

Owen was back in the autopsy room, the corpse of the Asteuh was laid flat yet again and this time Owen was going to finish it and lay it to bed. Tosh was with him, sat on the steps with her laptop perched on her lap. 

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Tosh asked, her voice quiet.

“He’ll be fine, Tosh. We’ll work this out, no matter what it takes. And it’s not like he hasn’t survived worse.”

She nodded. 

“Him and Jack were strange downstairs.”

“Hm?”

“Almost… tender. I don’t know. I’ve never seen Jack look that scared.”

“Well, they are together these days.”

“Piss off, we all know they’re just shagging.”

“it’s more than that this time.”

“But when Jack was gone, Ianto said, albeit very drunk, that it was just sex.”

“A lot changed between them when Jack came back.”

“Apparently so…” 

“They’re just… them. You know. I don’t think they’re planning marriage and kids if that’s what you’re worried about. But you said it yourself, when have we seen Jack look as scared as when he thought Ianto had died just then? Somethings there. Something more.”

Owen picked up his scanner in lieu of having something to say. He ran it over the body and tapped the keyboard, an alert popped up. 

“Hey, Tosh, what’s this? He tapped again, and his screen mirrored onto her laptop.

She immediately started typing. 

“That’s strange. Is… Is that what I think?”

“Fucking hell.”

_

Jack was hovering next to Ianto, who was sat comfortably into one of the hub’s wheelchairs flipping through some folders he’s had Jack retrieve. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this sick to his stomach. Watching Ianto, the man he’d come to… reply on… so strongly over the past few weeks, so weak and so hurt, it terrified him. He couldn’t lose this man. Not now, not ever. He’d been scared after everything with the space whale a few weeks back. Ianto had come so close to getting shot. They’d managed to talk after, Ianto even agreeing that they could try something more real. Jack was scared things were going to end before they’d even begun. 

“Stop thinking so loud, Jack, you’re distracting me.”

Jack chuckled and laid a hand on Ianto’s shoulder.

“Sorry, how you getting on?”

“Not sure. I might have found something, I kind of hope I’m wrong though.”

“Let me see.”

Ianto handed him the folder and Jack read it with a frown on his face. 

“You think?”

“Might be worth a scan?”

“What would that mean though?”

“I’m not sure. We’re in trouble?”

Jack couldn’t take it, the look on Ianto’s face. His attempt to make a joke to reassure Jack mixed with the genuine fear creeping through in his eyes. He leant down and kissed him gently, it was an odd angle but they made it work. Ianto brought one of his hands up to grab behind Jack’s neck and deepen the kiss. Jack smiled into his mouth and pulled away slightly. 

“Ianto, no…”

“But…”

“No…”

“Not even just a b-”

Jack kissed him again. 

“I think Owen would be severely unhappy with me if he thought I was taking advantage of you down here.”

“I don’t mind…”

“I know.”

Ianto sulked and leaned back in the wheel chair.

“It’s been ages mind.”

“It’s been about 3 days.”

“Ages.”

“You’re worse than me.”

“Your fault.”

“Not everything is my fault you know.”

“My inability to get through a working day without at least 1 sexual encounter with you is entirely your fault. I functioned fine before we got together, and I functioned fine at every other job I’ve ever had. It’s you and your…”

“Jawline? Impeccable good looks? 51st century pheromones?”

Ianto thought for a minute.

“I was gonna say cock.”

Jack burst out laughing, so much so he was gripping his side in an aid not to fall over. He was still laughing when Owen came in, looking flustered and annoyed. 

“Where the hell have you two been?”

Jack immediately drew up, the grin on his face dropping to a small smile. Ianto raised an eyebrow. 

“Been looking everywhere for you. Look, me and Tosh has found something.”

“So have we.” Jack lifted up the folder.

Owen walked forward and took the folder from Jack’s hands, he gave Ianto and exasperated look. He opened it and flipped through. 

“It seems we’ve drawn the same conclusions.”

“Really?” Ianto looked up at Jack, meeting his worried gaze.

“Come on, let’s get you upstairs. More tests to run.”

“Oh Joy…”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long! Uni went from 0-100 real quick and i've just had no time to write between my presentation on monday, my essay due next week and all the frickin reading. Still it's amazing and very fun. It does mean chapter updates may be a little slow for the next week or two. I'll try my best. Hope you enjoy <3

After an hour’s worth of blood tests, brain scans, chest scans, urine samples and a general once over, Ianto was what could be described as fucking knackered. He was drained from the long week, and now long day, they’d all had. But this being possessed by a strange alien energy was really taking it out of him. He and Jack had had some actual plans for the coming weekend, rift willing of course, to go out to a nice dinner then watch a film. Somehow, Ianto thought, as Saturday morning turned to Saturday night, they probably weren’t gonna go for dinner, let alone leave the hub. Owen sat him up after taking his last scan and Ianto held his breath as the pain in his chest returned. He grunted. 

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just aching. Wondering what is actually happening to me.”

“Well hopefully we’re a little closer to figuring that one out… Come on, if you can, we’ve got a team meeting.”

Ianto, with Owen’s help, moved from the autopsy table and into the wheelchair. Before they could make their way up to the main hub, Jack appeared at the railings. 

“Can I have a word with Ianto? Privately…”

Owen looked between them, then sighed. 

“Don’t take too long, we’ve got a meeting.”

“We’ll be there.”

Owen sauntered up the stairs and towards the boardroom, Jack took his place near Ianto’s wheel chair. 

“You okay?”

“Felt better.”

“Listen… I need to say something-”

“Jack, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Ianto…”

“Whatever you’re gonna say, I can’t hear right now.”

“You don’t know what I’m gonna sa-”

“You’ve got that look in your eyes.”

“What look? There’s no look?” Jack forced a causal laugh. It sounded strange to him, so god knows what Ianto would think.

“It’s the look you get when you’re thinking about saying something…. To do with feelings…”

“What?”

“When you got back from the doctor, when you asked me on a date, when Tommy was about to go back, when you came to my flat after Gwen stormed out… You always look like that.”

He pointed up to Jack’s slightly confused face. 

“I’m not-”

“I just can’t hear it now. Please. Not like this.”

Jack went silent, he slowly reached down and took Ianto’s hand in his. He rubbed slow circles with his thumb. 

“I can’t lose you.”

“And you won’t.”

“I will.”

“But not right now.”

Jack leaned down, his face coming close to Ianto’s, their lips brushing. 

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

_

They arrived in the boardroom a few minutes later, the rest of the team already settled in their usual seats. Jack wheeled Ianto to the end of the table where there was no chair, then sat in his own. Owen and Tosh immediately stood. 

“So we all know why we’re here.” 4 sets of eyes moved to Ianto, who shrugged. Owen continued. “We need to figure out what’s going on with Ianto and put a stop to it. Before… well. God knows what. So. Tosh.”

“We’ve both been running tests continually. And until a couple of hours ago, we had nothing. Until.”

“I started my autopsy on the Asteuh.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Gwen piped up.

“All in good time, miss Cooper.” 

Ianto rolled his eyes.

I was scanning over the body and I picked up an energy signal, residual, nothing more than a whisper left on the body. But nevertheless…”

“I confirmed what Owen’s scanner picked up,”  
“And the file Ianto found in the archives about the Asteuh only went to solidify our evidence.”

“The energy being given off by our dead alien friend out there, is the same energy that’s currently building inside of Ianto.”

Gwen’s eyes widened in horror, she brought her hand to her mouth. Jack’s eyes slipped closed. Even though he already knew this, to hear it in such certain terms… it scared the crap out of him. Ianto was quiet.

“Now, between us, me and Tosh are working on a way to remove the energy…”

“How did it even get in him?”

“An excellent question, Gwen. And one, that Ianto is probably best to answer himself. You read the file, mate…”

Ianto swallowed. The memories of Monday night coming to the front of his mind. He straightened himself took a deep breath. 

“Torchwood had some information on this species, had a couple of encounters with them in the 20s. And obviously…” he trailed off, looking at Jack. “Anyway. As far as anyone can tell, Asteuh belong in… couplings. They hunt and live in pairs. The one we have downstairs looks like a human, but they’re shapeshifters. Their basic form is something we can’t even imagine, but the file suggests that if their body is damaged or ‘dies’ in anyway, then they can exist temporarily as an energy cluster… until…”

“Until?”

“Until they find a new body. AKA. Me.”

The silence in the room was heavy. So Ianto continued. 

“So, they both come through the rift. One of their bodies is damaged in transit, so while the other starts the hunt…”

“There’s one that still needs a form before it can start shifting.”

Ianto nodded at Owen. “Yeah.”

“So why you?” Jack asked, the anger seeping into his voice.

“The file says they have a low level of telepathy, so it may have known I was connected to the rift. Other than that, we could assume that they’re attracted to energies, and I have a certain amount of rift energy hanging about me. We all do.”

“So, what? We’re assuming dumb luck this thing found you?” Owen said sharply.  
“Until there’s any evidence to the contrary, yes.”

“Too much of a coincidence.” 

“Jack-”

“No, this thing wasn’t lucky. It knew who you were.”

“We don’t know that!”

Jack and Ianto we’re silenced by Owen, who lifted his hand impatiently. 

“We do not have time for a domestic right now. I know you’re both scared. But just…. Shut up for a bit alright.” 

Jack stood from his chair and started to pace the edge of the room, too amped to sit still anymore. 

“Why now…” Tosh asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What?” Jack snapped. 

“Why now? If this energy has been building in Ianto since Monday, why now? What caused it to…” She wafted her hands in the air in an ‘amounting’ gesture. “…crescendo…?”

“We killed its mate.” Ianto said, softly. “At the club, we killed the other shapeshifter. They hunt in pairs, it’s what their designed to do. I bet you the one in me felt the one in the club die, and then decided its time to wake up.”

“And do what?” Owen’s voice was strong, but Ianto heard that wobble, indicating the doctor wasn’t quite as immune to all this as he was pretending.”

“Get revenge? Carry on the species line? For all it knows, it’s the last of its kind. Certainly on this planet.”

“Cheery thought, thanks Tosh.”

“You asked.”

“What happens next then?” Gwen questioned, quietly. 

Ianto shifted uncomfortably. His gaze drifting to Jack. 

“I’m not sure. But at a guess, I’d say some kind of shift is going to begin and I might stop being… me…”

Jack whirled round. 

“Not an option. We are going to get this thing out of you.”

“How…? Ianto’s voice dropped. He was starting to hurt again. All of it. The stress, the pain in his chest, the worry on Jack’s face. He let his eyes slip closed and Owen was with him in an instant. 

“Tosh. Owen. You need to be working on a way to get this energy out of Ianto and securely contained. I don’t care how. Just figure it out.” Tosh leapt up immediately, tapping on her PDA and muttering to herself. “Gwen, I know it’s a lot, but while Tosh and Owen work on Ianto, I need you to be monitoring everything else. Keeping an eye on witness reports and weevil sightings. You and me will have to keep track of everything else while the others are otherwise engaged.”

Gwen nodded, and left the boardroom hastily, clearly shaken by the whole situation. 

Owen was checking Ianto’s pulse, it had slowed and he hadn’t opened his eyes in a few minutes. 

“He’s still conscious, but he seems like he’s getting weaker. I’m gonna send him back down to the recovery rooms and you can set up shop there if you like?”

Jack shook his head. 

“It’s okay, I’ll be in my office. But alert me if the slightest thing changes okay?”

“Will do.”

Owen gave Jack a funny look as he left the boardroom. It was strange. One minute he couldn’t bear to leave the younger man’s side and now he couldn’t stand to be near him. Jack was an odd one, Owen mused, he wondered if any of them would ever understand him. He wondered if Ianto understood him, and if that was why this was so hard for them… Nevertheless, he had a job to do, he took the fragile and weakened Ianto Jones down to a comfortable recovery room and set him up as Saturday night turned into Sunday morning…


	5. Chapter 5

“How’s he doing?”

Tosh asked Owen, as he walked up the small set of stairs leading to the main hub from the recovery rooms.

“He’s sleeping, which is good. Got it on alert to my PDA If anything changes.” He wiggled the device in his hand. “How about you? Got anywhere?”

Owen sat heavily down on the ratty sofa under the Torchwood sign, his head resting on the back.

“I’m working on it. According to the digital archives, there should be a device downstairs that’s designed to extract energy from its source. Not sure if it’ll work in this instance, but I might be able to modify it. That is if we actually have one?”

Owen shrugged. 

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“The digital archives are a bit of a state. Ianto’s been working on them for months after hours. I’ve been helping where I can. There’s a lot of disparity between what we have in the archives and what the digital files say we have.”

“How does that even happen?”

“Well, before Ianto started working here, none of us really did anything with the archives. We certainly weren’t logging everything that went in. So, it’s a bit of a mess.”

“God, Ianto must hate us…”

Tosh laughed.

“We’re not his favourite people…” she trailed off, looking uncertain. “He’ll be okay, won’t he?”

“Of course, we just have to figure this out. Right, I’m gonna check in on Jack. You pop downstairs and see if you can find this energy extractor thing, It’s a start, yeah?”

“Yeah…”

Tosh got out of her chair and headed towards the door to the archives.

“Be careful.”

“Will do.”

Owen stood up from the sofa and walked to Jack’s office door, which was closed. He knocked twice and waited to be granted entry. When there was only silence, he pushed the door open slightly and moving his head round the side. 

“Jack?”

Jack was sat at his desk, reading through some old files, he looked up as Owen came in and offered a poor attempt at a smile. 

“Hey, sorry. Just been working.”

“That’s a first, what you reading?”

Jack closed the file quickly.

“Nothing.” He said a fraction too fast. Owen raised an eyebrow. “Really, just some old case files. How you and Tosh getting on?”

“We’re bouncing ideas, there might be something in the archives we can use. She’s gone down just now. Where’s Gwen?”

“Andy. He rang about an hour ago, apparently he has something for her to look into.”

“Joy.”

“Quite.”

Owen shuffled on his feet and chewed at his lip, unsure of what to say, what he wanted to ask. Jack filled the silence. 

“Is he okay?” Jack wasn’t looking at Owen, his eyes downcast.

“Um. Yeah. He’s asleep.”

“Good, I’ll go down and see him shortly.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that. He was asking for you earlier.”

Jack’s head snapped up.

“You didn’t tell me?”

“He fell asleep pretty much immediately.”

“Right…”

“Listen, uh, Jack…” Jack looked up at him, questioningly. “Are you two… okay?”

Owen cringed internally. This was awkward. He’d been trying not to think to much about Jack and Ianto, but as Ianto was downstairs nearly dying, it was getting harder to ignore the question bubbling in his chest. They all knew Jack and Ianto had been involved before Jack had left with his Doctor. But since their enigmatic leaders return, none of them were certain what was going on. And Ianto had been very tight lipped about it whenever Owen had asked, which had mostly been at the pub when they’d both been suitably pissed. But he could see it now, as Tosh had pointed out to him earlier, there was more there… A part of him wanted to know because he was team medic and he should know, a part of him was just desperately curious, and another part wanted to just ignore it because damn… ew… it was like thinking of your parents doing it. Don’t wanna know. Jack took a deep breath.

“We’re fine.”

“No, I mean… I don’t really know what I mean.”

“Just ask what you want to ask.”

“Are you two together?”

“Define ‘together’”

“Shagging?”

“Yes.”

“Dating?”

“People might call what Ianto and I do… dating…”

“Are you a couple?”

Jack hesitated. They hadn’t really had that conversation. 

“Not exactly an easy question.”

“Why not? Seems to me, you’re a couple of blokes that shag and go on dates, don’t know about you, but that sounds like most of my past relationships. And there’s no denying you two get along.”

“Why are you asking so many questions Owen?”

“I’m worried.”

“it’s none of your business what we get up to.”

“I know that, I’m worried about both of you. This is clearly hard on you guys, I saw the way you looked at him when you thought he was gone. That isn’t casual.”

Jack took a long, deep breath. He’d stood up from his desk at some point during their ongoing... chat... Owen tried not to be intimidated by the imposing height of the taller man.

“We are 2 people who enjoy spending time together, whatever form that takes. But cosy things like labels and definitions aren’t really something we’ve ever been able to afford.”

“Why though?”

“Because he is an ex-time agent; a time travelling, intergalactic immortal from 3000 years in our future-,” Jack jumped as a new voice had entered the room. He turned around and Ianto was there, clutching his side and leaning on a drip stand. “-And I will be bloody lucky to last until the end of the week.” 

Owen pushed past Jack to Ianto’s side.

“What are you doing out of bed?”

“What are you doing quizzing Jack on our sex life?”

“Touché.” 

Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to Ianto. 

“You promised…”

“And I maintain that promise, but you know me. Can’t resist a spot of theatrics.”

Ianto half smiled, Jack returned it. Feeling every bit as if he was going to crumble. 

“So what are you doing out of bed?”

“Thought I’d come and join the fun…” Jack gave him a look. And Ianto’s face fell. “Okay, fine. I think I’m starting to change. Like, I think it’s starting to take over.” 

Jack and Owen looked at each other, mirroring worried glances. 

“Why’s that?”

Ianto looked uncomfortable. 

“Ianto?”

“Because I don’t remember walking up here…” He pulled something round from behind his back, pointing it straight at Jack. “Or picking up this gun.”

_

The archives were a never-ending maze that Toshiko was finding herself increasingly more lost in. She didn’t know how Ianto did it. He spent so many hours creeping around the darkness, she wondered how he could stand to be in daylight… The light from her PDA gave Toshiko’s face an odd blue glow as she tried to read where she was going from it’s small screen. It wasn’t easy. She was half tempted to swing by Ianto’s room and see if he could help her out. She shook her head and carried on walking. Not too far now.

She took a left turn at a small T-junction in the shelves and headed towards what she hoped was ‘E’ for ‘extraction’ but it was anyone’s guess. The PDA in her hands gave a small chirp, letting her know she was supposedly in the right area, so she slowed down and started looking up and down the stacked shelves. 

The archive notes described the device as a small, round, silver object with some alien hieroglyphics around the edge and a two-button system in the centre. One button for Extract, one button to release. It was supposedly quite complex tech with a simple system for easier understanding, but it sounded risky to Tosh. She’d learnt over the years that simpler to understand didn’t always mean easier to operate. She’d far rather some panel with 100 buttons over just one, because at least then you can work it out, there’s choice. If that one button doesn’t do what you need it to, then you’re screwed. 

Tosh scanned the shelves for a few minutes before coming to what looked like it could be the device she wanted. She donned a very fetching pair of safety gloved and delicately picked it up. Unlike some people (Owen) Tosh actually followed Ianto’s rules about safely handling items in the archives. Checking the specs against what she had on the screen, Tosh grinned with triumph as she saw she had the right thing. 

She tapped her comm. 

“Owen? I’ve got the device.”

No reply. Strange. She tapped again. 

“Owen? You there? I’m going back up now, I’ve got the extractor.”

Still nothing. She tired a couple of other channels in case he’d been fiddling with it again, then tried to get through to Jack. 

“Jack? Can you hear me? Everything okay?”

She jumped as Jack’s voice crackled into her ear. He was out of breath, like he’d been running. 

“Tosh! You need to get that device working now! It’s happened!”

“What Jack? What’s happened?”

Tosh heard Jack’s strained breathing, a soft string of laughter, and the all too familiar sound of a gunshot.

“Ianto’s gone…”

And his voice cut out.


	6. Chapter 6

 

Tosh tried not to panic as he made her way slowly up to the hub. It had been minutes since Jack’s voice had mysteriously cut out on the comms, since she’d heard that gunshot. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. The device in her hands, the extractor, was small and unthreatening and potentially all of their saviour. She continued through the corridors, periodically checking her comm for any sign of Jack or Owen.

 

The idea of Ianto being taken over by this creature scared her. She didn’t want to lose him, not like this. After Jack had disappeared on them all, they’d all got closer, but her and Ianto especially. They bonded over their mutual feelings of abandonment, as well as gratitude towards Jack for saving them. It was a difficult line to walk; hating someone so much for what they’ve done, while loving them unwaveringly for everything else.

 

She came to the door that connected the archives to the main hub and was relieved to find it open. Slightly unsure of what she was going to find, Tosh edged her way through the gap and into the hub.

 

_

 

A war was raging tirelessly inside Ianto Jones’s head. He’s never known a feeling like this. It was if he, the real Ianto, had been pushed backwards in his mind to the very far corners where he was unable to control anything. The worst horror was that even though he was out of control completely, he could still see and fee everything. He watched his body move from the hospital bed, through the hub, to the armoury to pick up a gun. It was like taking glasses off after a long day, everything was out of focus, unreal.

 

He’d had brief control again once he’d found his way to Jack’s office, he’s mustered enough strength to tell Jack what he’d done, that he was losing to the creature. Then it had all gone wrong. He’d shot Jack point blank, his begging and screaming unheard by everyone in the room. Owen had ran, gracefully dropping into the bunker under Jack’s office and bolting the door above him. Ianto could have got him, if he really wanted to. But the alien inside him wasn’t after people, it was after the hub.

 

_

 

Jack gasped back to life in an empty room, he scrambled up but stayed low, under the window to the main hub. The door to his bunker was closed, and Jack made a silent prayer that Owen was down there, safe and unharmed. He crawled forward on his hands and knees and peaked around the door to his office. Ianto was there, typing on Tosh’s computer. Jack could tell with one glance that it wasn’t Ianto, not in his head anyway. His posture was all off and the frown on his face wasn’t the adorably grumpy one Jack was used to, it was cold and brutal.

 

He tapped his comm, and Tosh’s worried voice rushed into his ear.

 

“Tosh! You need to get that device working now! It’s happened!”

Her worried reply hit him but before he could reply Ianto’s head snapped up and he turned on Jack, the gun raised.

 

“Ianto’s gone…”

 

And he was dead. Again.

 

_

 

Tosh crept through the lower level of the main hub. She could see Ianto’s shoes at her desk and could hear the sound of her keyboard typing away. She couldn’t imagine what Ianto – the alien – was trying to achieve; but whatever it was, if it had access to Ianto’s memories then it had access to all of their security codes and information about the entire workings of Torchwood. Props to the alien, Tosh thought, if it wanted to take over the hub, it hadn’t picked a better human to take over.

 

Edging forward towards the steps to her desk, Tosh caught sight of Jack’s body in the doorway of his office. She could just see the wound in his head closing over, something that never ceased to amaze her. Hang on… Tosh inclined her head as a plan formed. If she was going to modify the device for extracting the alien from Ianto’s body, she would need her tool kit. It was just on the edge of her desk, she could see it plainly at Ianto’s elbow. It was reachable from the lower level she was stood on. All she needed was a distraction… and If Jack was dead, then he would soon be reviving… which was always quite the spectacle. Tosh moved forwards, into prime position to grab the small kit once Jack came back to life. She didn’t have to wait long.

 

Jack’s pained gasp filled the air, and the alien jumped, clearly not expecting Jack’s speedy return. Ianto’s head whipped around and he picked the gun up again. Toshiko seized her chance and grabbed the tool kit before slipping to the ground immediately, keeping herself out of sight. She opened the kit on the floor and began to work.

 

“Why won’t you stay dead!?”

 

The gun fired again, hitting the window to Jack’s office and smashing the glass. Jack eased himself up, careful to avoid the shards all over the floor.

 

“What can I say, I guess I’m just stubborn. If you we’re Ianto, you’d know that.” A sad look passed over Jack’s face. “But you’re not Ianto, are you.”

 

The Alien made Ianto’s face curl up into a snarl. Jack recoiled, not at all liking the way the creature could morph Ianto into something so cold.

 

“His body is mine.”

 

Jack shook his head. “It really isn’t, Asteuh.” The alien looked affronted at the use of its name. “Yeah… that’s your name. I know your species. So doya mind telling me what you’re doing on this here planet, and why you’re possessing my friend?”

 

The alien’s eyes darted around the hub, assessing the gantry’s, the exits, the humans…

 

“We were dragged here. Against our will. To this… sorry world.”

 

“What can you do, shit happens.” Jack shrugged, feigning nonchalance.  

 

“My body was burned up as we game through this world, I had to take form. To find my friend. You killed my friend…”

 

“And I’m sorry about that, but your friend was killing my people.”

 

“As a means to survive.”

 

“This doesn’t look like survival. This looks like attack.”

 

“What do you know of attack?”

 

A shadow passed over Jack’s face. “More than I would like to.” The Alien snarled and turned back to the computer. “Why him?” Jack asked.

 

“I do not understand?”

 

“Why him? There are thousands of humans in this city. Why him?”

 

The Asteuh seemed to contemplate this. It looked around the room with Ianto’s eyes before settling again on Jack.

 

“He stinks.”

 

Jack blinked. “What?”

 

“He stinks of the rift. Your rift. He is surrounded by the energy of it. I recognise that energy as my way home.”

 

Jack shook his head. “We can’t get you home.”

 

“You can control the rift. I know you can, I see it in his head.”

 

“It’s too dangerous.”

 

“But it’s been done before.”

 

“And the city nearly fell.”

 

Suddenly Ianto whirled around, the fury from the alien inside him pouring out in waves. Jack recoiled.

“What is one city to me? What does it matter to me?! I didn’t ask to be dragged here, I didn’t ask for my friend to be killed. I just want to go home and I will burn the whole of your pitiful planet to get there!”

 

Jack’s eyes picked with tears. He shook his head.

 

“I can’t let you do that.”

 

“You have no choice… How about I just kill every human on your stinking earth, how would that be?” The alien laughed cruelly. “You know what? You are just everywhere in this one’s head? I know everything about you! How much he cares! How much he wishes _you did…_ ”

 

Jack’s breath caught in his throat. “Let him go.” The alien shook Ianto’s head.

 

“No! It’s too easy. I think I will take over world, starting here. Starting with him…”

 

Suddenly the door to Jack’s bunker flew open and Owen came rushing out, gun half raised.

 

“No!”

 

The alien raised the gun in Ianto’s hand and aimed to shoot. Jack swore and grabbed Owen by the waist, tackling him down. The shot hit the wall where Owen had been standing. They were startled by cold laughter as the gun was raised again.

 

“Nice try…” The alien aimed, small, cruel smile dancing across Ianto’s pained face and…

 

BANG

 

Ianto’s body abruptly collapsed to the floor as a large ball of light exploded from his chest. It lifted high above him, illuminating the whole hub. The light began to shrink, it seemed to struggle… it ebbed and flowed and sparked like static. Suddenly it was sucked backwards and disappeared with a small spark.

 

Jack ran to Ianto’s limp body, and Owen was right behind him.

 

“What the hell just happened?” Jack shouted, as the light still danced across the back of his eyes.

 

Tosh popped up from where she’d been crouched on the metal gantry above their heads.

 

“I happened… well, the extractor happened. I managed to grab a couple of tools while you guys were having it out and got it working rather quickly. I’ll do a scan to make sure the creature is safely contained within the device and then we should be good…”

 

Jack’s eyes filled with tears of gratitude and strong, strong emotion.

 

“Thank you, Tosh. You… you are bloody brilliant…”

 

She nodded at him with eyes full of tears of her own and started to make her way down the steps. Owen was checking Ianto over thoroughly, well, as thoroughly as he could on the floor of the main hub. Jack’s heart suddenly dropped. Ianto was still unconscious, and Owen wasn’t saying anything. He felt his legs give out and he sat back on the cold floor. This wasn’t happening… Owen reached for Ianto’s wrist and checked again his pulse. The air in the room seemed to disappear. Jack held his breath, praying to gods he didn’t believe him but hoping one of them would listen… _please let him be okay_ …

 

Owen let out a long breath.

 

“He’s got a pulse. It’s weak, but it’s there.” Jack collapsed in relief. He let out a half sob and crawled back over to Ianto. He smoothed his hand over the younger man’s hair and tried to keep his emotions in check. Owen patted his back and half lifted Ianto up.

 

“Let’s get him downstairs and we can get him sorted…”

 

Jack nodded and he helped Owen lift Ianto. It was over… A few minutes later the hub door rolled open and Gwen bounded in, huffing with an armful of files from Andy.

 

“You will not believe the day I’ve ha-” She looked up and saw the mild disaster zone the hub had become. “Jesus Christ… What did I miss?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesusss christtttt, i'm so sorry this took so long to update. It has been a crazy few weeks. We moved house over christmas so I had absolutely no time to write and I've been back at uni since the start of Jan pretty much non-stop. I found a bit of break time though and managed to just sit and actually write an ending, and I'm pretty pleased with it - I hope you all agree :P (and please let me know what you think :)
> 
> Hope you all had a great Christmas/holiday period and a brilliant new years. I will actually update this again soon(ish), just a short epilogue to tie it all together. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :D x


	7. Epilogue

After a long and horrible week, Jack had finally been able to send his team home. Tosh and Owen had saved the day, and Gwen had done a fantastic job holding down the fort while they were all too preoccupied with Ianto’s situation. After the alien had been extracted from Ianto’s body, and Tosh had confirmed it was trapped, Owen had been thrilled to report Ianto would make a full recovery. There would be no lasting physical consequences to his brief possession, other than the memories that would likely haunt him. Once Owen had cleared him, he’d driven Ianto home and set him up with a sedative and a later instruction to Jack to check on him in the evening. It was over. And for that, Jack was eternally grateful.

 

Jack was sat at his desk, his mind too occupied on everything that had happened the past few days to focus on writing up the report. He’d watched Ianto, Tosh, Owen and Gwen all leave earlier in the evening, rightly so after the week they’d had. But now the hub felt cold and empty after so much time with them all in spitting distance of each other. Jack checked his watch. Half 9. He’d head to Ianto’s soon to check on him and hopefully they could talk. Jack never thought he’d be the kind of man in a relationship to want to talk out feelings and have those big conversations, but with Ianto, he didn’t mind putting in the extra effort. He only had Ianto for a short amount of time, and he wanted that time to be as good as possible. Which meant no more misunderstandings, they had far too many of those in their history. No more.

 

Jack looked down at his desk, at the file he’d been reading a few hours ago when Owen had come in to question him about Ianto. It seemed like so long ago, so much had happened in the past couple hours, let alone the past couple of days... He shook his head and picked up the file to read again. He smiled, thinking back to the time he was reading about, when it had all been so simple and so complicated and so much fun. He nodded to himself, closed the folder and tucked it under his arm, then grabbed his coat to head to Ianto’s.

 

Jack let himself in using his key, then quietly entered the flat. He’d been there numerous times in the past few months, most nights ending up in Ianto’s bed over his own cold bunk. The flat was dark as Jack toed off his shoes, hung up his coat and crept into the living room. Ianto wasn’t there, so Jack assumed – hoped – he was tucked up in bed. Jack followed down the small hallway and carefully opened Ianto’s bedroom door. He was there, sat up in bed reading an old battered copy of Jurassic Park, illuminated only by the small bedside light next to him.

 

As the door opened, Ianto looked up from his book. “Hey,” He said softly.

 

“Hey yourself. Thought you we’re supposed to be sleeping? Didn’t Owen give you that sedative?” Jack started to unbutton his shirt, putting the file he was still holding on the dresser. He stripped to his boxers and undershirt then sat on the edge of the bed, opposite where Ianto was tucked under the duvet.

 

“He did. I slept for a couple of hours, woke up…” Ianto turned to check the time on the small alarm clock. “About half an hour ago. Thought I’d read for a bit ‘till you got here.”

 

Jack smiled and nodded, liking that Ianto had waited for him. “How you feeling then?”

 

Ianto shrugged. “More like myself.” Jack chuckled in response. “But yeah, overall… better. Just tired I suppose.”

 

Ianto folded the corner of the page he was on then placed the book on the bedside table, out of the way. He leaned over the bed and flopped the duvet over, making a space for Jack, which he immediately crawled into. They shuffled further into the bed together and Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto. They lay there, intertwined and slotted together like pieces of a puzzle for what seemed like hours; Jack was almost certain Ianto had fallen asleep, until he spoke.

 

“I’m sorry for this week…” Ianto’s voice was barely a whisper. Jack laughed softly, Ianto felt it more than he heard it.

 

“Why on earth are you sorry?” Jack curled closer to Ianto, his hand finding Ianto’s under the duvet and clasping it tight.

 

“It’s been a hard week for you all. And I haven’t been able to do anything to help.”

 

Jack shook his head and didn’t reply immediately. Of course, Ianto would see it that way. That man could take his own personal trauma any day of the week and turn it into a fault of his own. Jack shuffled backwards and manoeuvred Ianto so they were facing each other.

 

“You’re right, this has been a hard week. Having to see you like that – hurt, at risk of dying… it was almost too much for me.” Ianto closed his eyes against the intensity of Jack’s stare. “But you have no reason to feel guilty for that, that’s on the scumbag alien that’s just taken up full time residence in the secure archives. You have had it the worst these past couple days, and I want you to recover fully before you come back to work.”

 

“But-”

 

“No buts. No fighting me on this one. You are having 3 days off mandatory, and as many as you feel you need after that. If I have to make it an order I will do.”

 

Ianto huffed, and tucked his head into Jack’s neck.

 

“I hate it when you pull rank in bed…” Ianto’s words were muffled in Jack’s T-shirt, and Jack chucked, bringing his hand to stroke through the younger man’s hair.

 

“No, you don’t…”

 

Ianto’s laugh was lost in Jack’s chest, and they fell asleep like that, curled around each other and holding tight like they’d never have to let go.

 

_

 

When Ianto woke up he was alone in bed. He stretched an arm out to Jack’s side and found it still warm, so unless there had been an emergency at the hub, Jack was likely still in the flat. Ianto rolled onto his back at stared up at the ceiling, he felt better than he had done in days. He’d felt awful, a combination of an already long few weeks and then an alien possession. He was certainly glad it was over.

 

Ianto sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes, fully intending to get up and have a shower, but before he could, his eyes caught something sat on the dresser. A file. A Torchwood file… Ianto swung his legs out of bed and padded across the carpet to pick it up. He opened it slowly, letting it fall to the front page of the report. After a quick scan he understood why Jack had brought it. Ianto smiled to himself, closed the folder and made his way to the kitchen.

 

_

 

Ianto stepped through the hall door and into the kitchen. Jack was there in his pants and T-shirt, humming along to the radio as he cooked eggs in a big frying pan. There were two plates on the side, both loaded with toast, bacon and beans. The surfaces were a mess. Ianto smiles at the sight, and at the slight swing to Jack’s hips as he danced along to the radio. Instead of saying hello, Ianto instead opened the file and began to read.

 

“July 15th,” Ianto read, “Agents Harkness and Jones are called out to a weevil disturbance in Splott, 09:17pm.” Jack jumped slightly, turned around from the stove and smiled sheepishly at Ianto, he gestured for him to continue reading. “Weevil count was low, so no back up assistance was required. Harkness and Jones safely detained the rogue weevils and placed them back with the sewer population. No injury or medical assistance was required.” Ianto stopped reading and shut the folder. “Our first date.” He smiled.

 

“Our first _attempt.”_ Jack amended with a grin, then he turned back to cooking their breakfast.

 

“Dinner got interrupted because a couple of weevils had been spotted by the Lidl in Splott.”

 

“I promised we’d reschedule and make it up.”

 

“Which we did.”

 

“But in the meantime, we just shagged in the alleyway next to two unconscious weevils.”

 

“That part didn’t make it in the report.” They laughed together then lapsed into comfortable silence. Ianto shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Why did you bring this over?” He asked, leaning back on the counter.

 

Jack sighed. He took the pan of eggs off the heat and scraped them onto the plates along with the toast. He turned back to face Ianto, an unreadable look on his face.

 

“I don’t know… I was reading it when you were sick. Suppose it was just nice to reminisce. Especially when I thought I’d lost you.”

 

Ianto stepped closer to Jack and took his hands.

 

“You didn’t lose me, Jack. I’m right here.”

 

“I know, I know…” Jack took a long breath, gathering himself. “But there was a moment, just after you collapsed, where you closed your eyes and-and…” Jack stopped, his eyes filling with tears. He looked up at the ceiling, away from Ianto. Ianto squeezed his hands tightly. “A moment where I thought you’d never open them again… I’ve lived a long time Ianto, I’ve done a lot of stuff, but I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was then.”

 

Ianto’s eyes were watery too as he pulled Jack in for the tightest hug of his entire life. They held each other for what seemed like hours. When Ianto spoke, he only pulled back far enough to look into Jack’s eyes.

 

“I’m sorry you were so scared. I was too. I was scared of leaving you.”

 

They hugged again, pulled close together with no intention of letting go. They had to eventually though, because Jack had made breakfast and Ianto wasn’t going to miss it. They ate sat on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table and legs touching all the way to their toes while some good morning talk show whirred on in the background. They were happy, and Ianto was safe.

 

And even though things wouldn’t always be easy, they always had each other.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this story has taken so long to finish, but I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and enjoyed the short epilogue that I think ties up the emotional bits at the end. It's been fun to write, but now i'm working on quite a few long one shots, as well as another potential multi-chap that could end up being something good. Let me know if that's something you guys would want me to post. 
> 
> Hope you're all doing well and are having a great start to the week!


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